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Bird vs Netting

This morning I was admiring the King Parrots in the tree right by my window when something caught my eye, a bird in my neighbours yard was thrashing about; It was caught on the netting he had over his tomatoes. The bird, a pied currawong, was in great distress. It would try to fly, fail, and crash back down to the ground, face first. It was horrible. I went to my neighbors door but no one was home, I called WIRES and was directed to another group, and then directed to another person. There was one problem though, trespassing; The kind lady on the phone could not rescue the bird, who seemed to have given up and lay prone and panting in the midday sun, without permission to access the property from the owner. Phone calls were made to no avail, finally her husband had a grand idea - the police - they couldn't help out fast enough. I watched through my bedroom window as the bird was finally rescued, with a sore leg and a bit of heat stress it will stay with its rescuer for a few days before hopefully being released.

It is indeed a litigious society, Mishaka, where there are predator people looking for the slightest opportunity to sue. However, if you have a good relationship with your neighbour there should be no problem rescuing a Pied Currawong caught in a net. It’s unfortunate you had to go through so much bureaucracy to save the Currawong but that, too, is a feature of our modern society.

There are special ways of handling birds so that they can be safely rescued from nets while minimizing distress. These techiques can be taught if you were to join an ornithological group or even merely contact a researcher who nets birds. Mind you, you may never have cause to use these techniques again!